Help With Dishwasher Would Be Greatly Appreciated!

[RobynB]

Hi

We bought a new Neff dishwasher to go in our new build house and it has never worked! When you start a cycle it begins to beep after a few minutes and a tap symbol comes up which I'm told indicates low water pressure or bad water supply. If you open the door and shut it again it begins to work again and then beeps after a few more minutes. This beeping happens a few times at the beginning and end of a cycle but it seems to work in between.

We've had a couple of plumbers round to look at it and they can't seem to get anywhere. The last one suggested that we would need to install a pump on our whole water system in order to improve the water pressure. He warned us this would be costly and disruptive so are keen to avoid this is possible!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Robyn

 

[andytw]

Presume it is connected to the same pipe that supplies you kitchen cold tap. What is the pressure like at the tap ?

andytw

 

[RobynB]

Thank you for your prompt reply! The water pressure is okay but not brilliant. Our kitchen is on the first floor which we have been told will reduce the pressure. Our dishwasher manual suggests we need a minimum of 0.5 bar and we have checked the pressure at the tap with a gauge before and I think it was slightly below this

 

[swbjackson]

Firstly make sure that the cold feed to the kitchen is actually from the main. If it is then you need to look at boosting the pressure. It may be something as straightforward as a valve not open properly but if all is okay with the cold main then you need to look at fitting a small booster pump.

Salamander and Stuart Turner both manufacture a pump suitable for boosting cold mains supplies. I prefer the Stuart Turner version as the Salamander one relies on microprocessor control to give the correct performance whereas the Stuart Turner one used mechanical flow restrictors.

http://www.stuart-turner.co.uk/products/flo~mate

http://www.home-boost.co.uk/

 

[JohnD]

you have checked that the hose filter is not clogged? New houses are often gritty.

While you have the hose unscrewed from the valve, open it to squirt into a bucket to see if flow is OK

0.5 bar is only 5 metres of head, which is very little. Are you sure it isn't being supplied from a tank only 15 feet above? Mains pressure of 0.5bar would have trouble reaching the loft.

Is the valve a proper one
http://www.screwfix.com/p/pegler-prestex-809b-washing-machine-valve-elbow-15mm-x-bsp/45537

or a pathetic thing that punctures the pipe?
http://www.screwfix.com/p/self-cutting-tap-15mm-x/21250 and belongs in the skip

 

[RobynB]

Thank you very much for all your comments. From what you've said I suspect that the dishwasher is supplied from the header tank but will double check. What would be our best option from here? Is it worth looking at a pump to improve the pressure or are we better to try and get a pipe from the main to feed the dishwasher instead?

 

[longdogs]

Best to connect it to the incoming mains water. Hopefully your kitchen cold tap is from the mains also.